Councils' spending on waste management rises

Local authorities in England are expected to increase their spending on waste and recycling by £200m this year, a growth of 5% over two years.

Figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) revealed that English councils have budgeted around £3.6bn in 2017-18 to pay for waste collection and disposal, recycling, waste minimisation and trade waste.

The net expenditure figures take into account charges, fees and sales.

In 2015-16, the outturn figure - the actual amount spent - stood at around £3.4bn. Expenditure on waste disposal has risen slowly but steadily during the past three, from £1.97bn to £2.17bn.

The cost of recycling in 2017-18 is expected to run to around £611m compared with £590m in 2015-16 and £569m in 2016-17.

Councils have greatly increased their profits from trade waste services. In 2016-17, they made a small loss, but in 2017-18 it is expected to bring in nearly £38m.

Waste collection expenditure has remained roughly similar in the past three years, and for 2017-18 it stands at £841m.

This year has been marked by a number of councils renegotiating their waste management contracts, including the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority announcing it would scrap its £3bn, 25-year, PFI waste processing deal with the Viridor Laing joint venture.

The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment has announced that scrap steel, post-industrial plastics waste, PET bottles and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) imports will be banned by the end of the year.

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